Means for cleaning knives.



No. 723,463.- PATENTED MAR. 24. 1903.

C. HEYWOOD. MEANS EUR CLEANING KNIVES.

APPLIUATION F'ILED MAY 26, 1902. so MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Wz'nses Inl/anim M W @www AW PATENTED MAR. 24, 1903.

G. HBYWOOD. MEANS POR GLEANING KNIVES.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY ze, 1902. no Holm.. 2 sums-SHEET a.

UNITED i STATES PATENT grrrcE.

OEOIL HEYWOOD, OF MAlDA VALE, LONDON, ENGLAND.

i MEANS FOR CLEANING KNIVES.

SPCIFCATON forming part of Letters Patent No. 723,463, dated March 24,1903.

Application iiled May 26, 1902.V Serial No. 109,114. (Nov model.)

To a/ZZ whom if may concern.:

Be it known that I, CEcIL HEYWooD, gentleman, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at 69 Morshead Mansions,Maida Vale, in thecounty of London, England,have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Means for Cleaning Knives or the Like, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the drawingshereunto annexed and to the letters marked thereon.

The invention relates to improvements in means for cleaning knives orthe like.

Various kinds of knife-cleaning machines have from time to time beenbrought before the public; but those that have possessed the requisitequalities to render them efficient have been too costly to come intogeneral use, while the cheaper kinds have been more or less expensive,added to which they, or most of them, have failed to give satisfactoryresults, the consequence being that at the present time theold-fashioned and primitive knife-'board is still in general use.

Now the object of the present invention is to obtain a simpledevicewhich will be extremely portable, occupy little space, and clean bothsides of the knife at once and that in a highly-efficient manner, andyetcost lit,- tle,ifany,inore than the common knife-board.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of aninstrument constructed according to the present invention and showingthe same iu its open position ready to receive a knife. Fig. 2 is a planthereof, but with the upper lever or arm' broken away. Fig. 3 is atransverse section taken on the line 1 1 of Fig. l. Fig. 11 is a similarview to Fig. 1, but showing the instrument nearly closed. Fig. 5 is aside elevation of part of the instrument, showing the same completelyclosed and thus fastened.. Fig. 6 is an end view thereof, partly insection. Fig. 7 is a similar view to Fig. l, but illustrating a slightmodification in the means employed for retaining the main springs inplace. Fig. 8 is a plan thereof, but with the upper arm or lever brokenaway. Fig. 9 is a similar view to Fig. l, but illustrating amodification in the means for obtaining a plane rubbing-surface. Fig. 10is a plan thereof with the upper arm or lever broken away. Fig. 11 is aside view of part of one of the canvas-covered plates separately. Fig.12 is an under side View thereof. i Fig. 13 is a similar view to Fig. 1,illustrating a further modiiication. Fig. 14 is a plan thereof; and Fig.15is a similar view to Fig. 1, illustrating a stillA furthermodification.

In the several figures, in which like parts are indicated by similarletters of reference, Figs. 11 and 12 are drawn to an'` increased scalewith respect to the other figures of the drawings.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 6, a, represents the arms or levers or platformsconstituting the body of the instrument, andthese arms or levers are atone end' thereof pivotally connected together by a hinge-joint a', so asto be capable of closing or folding one upon the other, or nearly so, asshown at Figs. 4, 5, and 6. At the other end the arms or levers a arefashioned into handles a2, by the aid of which they may be manipulated,and they are furnished with a fastening device, consisting lof arevoluble eye 0,3, carried by one part, which is adapted to be passedthrough a coacting slot a4 in the other part and then turned into aposition at right angles with the slot, as shown at Figs. 5 and 6, bythe aid of which the arms or levers a 'may be retained in their closedposition when required, or any lother suitable fastening device may besubstituted therefor. One of the arms or levers a, is furnished upon itsinner face with several projections, stops, or distance-pieces 0.5,which in the closed position of the device come against the inner faceof the other or opposite arm or lever Yandinsure a given spacebeingpreserved between said arms or levers '0., as shown more particularly atFigs. 5 and 6, and one of said stops is arranged at the inner ends ofthe arms or levers o. adjacent to the hinge-joint 0,', and the othersare located,'respectively, at and near to the outer end thereof, so asto leave a considerable space between the two stops a5 nearest to theinner end or hinge ct. Within this space is fitted a bowed spring b, ofribbon or plate steel and of a width equal to that of the lever or arma, or thereabout, and the ends of this spring h are provided with slotsb', and coacting headed screws b2 are passed through the slots andscrewed into the arm 0r lever o., by which means the spring b iscontrolled and ICO guided in its movements, or plain holes might besubstituted for the slots I3. Over the springb and longitudinallythereof is strained a strip c of canvas webbing or other suitablematerial of about the same dimensions as the spring b and which at itsends is fastened to the arm or lever a by nipping it beneaththe adjacentstops a5. The springb, arranged in the manner above described, naturallyassumes the form of an arc at ils ends, springing from the arm or leveral, and thus maintains the canvas slrip `c in the required strainedcondition. Within the radius ofthe arc of the main spring b and arrangedcentrally with relation to the length of said main spring, butin aninverted position, is a supplemental bowed spring d, which is formed toan arc of a smaller radius than the main spring b and is at its centerfastened to the arm or lever a by means of clips d', or it might beotherwise fastened, so as to leave its ends free to act upon the mainspring b at the times desired. The other or opposite arm or lever a isprovided with a similar arrangement of springs b and d and canvas orlike covering c, which latter in this case is fastened by nails orscrews c', and thus when the two arms or levers a are forced together bymeans of the handles a2 the canvas-covered main springs b will becompressed one against the other, as shown at Fig. 4, and aided by thesupplemental springs d will be caused to assume a right line, while thesupplemental springs d will at the same time reinforce the main springsb and impart thereto and to the rubbing-surface c the necessary rigidityto perform the required work; but the supplemental springs d may for thesake of cheapness be dispensedwith, if desired, although the action ofthe device will not be so efficient.

In order to use the device, the arms or levers a, are opened and thecanvas or like rubbing-surface c is coated with brick-dust,emery-powder, or the like, and the blade of the knife to be cleaned,which is held in one hand, is inserted between the canvas or otherrubbing-surfaces c, and the handles a2 of the arms or levers a, whichare held in the other hand, are forced together until the requiredpressure is attained, and the knife-blade is moved several times to andfro, when it will be eihciently cleaned upon both sides and highlypolished, while by reason of the simple manipulation required alargenumber of knives may be cleaned in a comparatively short period of time.

In the example given at Figs. 7 and 8 the device is identical with thathereinbefore shown and described, except that instead of the main springb being slotted at its ends and secured by a guide stud or screw b2 andthe canvas or like strip c fastened beneath the stops a5 said canvasstrip c is at its ends fastened to the lever or arm a by screws or nailsc' and for the sake of cheapness constitutes the sole means ofcontrolling and guiding the main spring l).

In the example given at Figs. 9 to 12 the bowed springs are dispensedwith and the canvas or like strips c are carried by approximately rigidplanes e, while said planes are i supported by helical springs b d, andin order to impart a convexity rather than a concavity to the planes ethe center springs d are formed stronger, so as to afford a greaterresistance than the end springs b. The springs b and d are fastened tothe planes e by means ofstuds or rivets 3 d2, and the ends of the canvasstrips c are passed around the ends of the planes c and secured by thesprings b, or they might be otherwise fastened in any convenient manner.

In the example given at Figs. 13 and 14 the two parts a, constitutingthe body of the device, are connected together at both sides thereof bymeans of links or levers a, pivotally connected with the two parts ofthe body a. at a, so as to produce a kind of parallel motion, while theupper part of the body ais provided with a knob or handle a2, so that bythe aid of simple pressure applied thereto vthe one part may be forcedtoward the other part in therequired manner. In other respects thedevice is similar in construction to that hereinbefore shown anddescribed with respect to Figs. 1 to 6, except that the means employedfor fastening the spring b and canvas strips c are similar to thoseshown and described with respect to Figs. 7 and 8.

In the example given at Fig. 15 the device is identical with thathereinbefore shown and described with respect to Figs. 1 to 6, exceptthat the set of springs b and d upon the upper arm or lever d isdispensed with'and the strip of canvas or the like c is fasteneddirectly upon the inner face of said arm or lever, and it will beobvious that this peculiar construction might be employed in connectionwith any of the arrangements shown and 'described with respect to theother figures of the drawings, although it is probably inferior to allof ithe arrangements shown and described.

It will be obvious that the construction and arrangement of the variousparts of the device may be otherwise modified without departing from thespirit of the invention.

By the means hereinbefore described a simple and inexpensiveknife-cleaning device is obtained which is much more efficient andportable than the old-fashioned knife-board and equally efcient as someof the more costly contrivances hereinbefore referred to.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed,

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by its ends fixed upon each of the opposite faces of said partslongitudinally thereof and coextensive therewith in length and Width insuch manner that the arcs of saidsprings are opposed to one another andwhen pressed together become flattened into a right line and strips ofexible material covering the meeting faces of said springs substantiallyas herein shown and described and for the' purpose stated. e

2. In a knife-cleaningdevicea body formed of two parts piyotallyconnected at one end and adapted to be moved apart and forced togetherby hand, a single bowed plate-spring by its ends fixed upon each of theopposite faces of said parts longitudinally thereof and coexten'sivetherewith in length and Width in such manner that the arcs of saidsprings are opposed to one another and when pressed t0- gether becomeflattened into a right line, strips of flexible material covering themeeting faces of said springs and supplemental but inverted bowedsprings of a smaller radins than the main springs carried by the twoparts of said body within the arcs of the main springs and acting toreinforce the same substantiallyT as herein shown and described and forthe purpose stated.

CECIL HEYWOOD. Witnesses:

C. MELBOURNE WHITE, C. H. WHITE.

